Following a series of winter storms that dumped snow and rain on the western United States, California’s drought levels have decreased, which is good news for a state where severe drought and water access have long been issues.
As of Thursday, the US Drought Monitor indicated that around 49 percent of California remained under a moderate or severe drought, but the rest of the state was free of drought or simply “abnormally dry”.
The Drought Monitor said “The Pacific weather systems of this week and last week added to copious precipitation that has been received from atmospheric rivers since December 2022, especially over California and states to the east.”
It added that the portion of the state under “extreme to exceptional” drought has also dropped from about 40 percent three months ago to zero.
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“Most California reservoirs have refilled with water levels near or above average, but groundwater levels remain low and may take months to recover,” the Drought Monitor said.
The state’s water supply has received a much-needed boost from the rains, but the long-term problems that climate change has caused for California remain.
Nonetheless, the tens of trillions of tons of water that have soaked California will assist the state deal with water problems that are expected in the near future.
Story was adapted from Aljazeera
